Ozkaya extended his full support to Fadil Inan, the judge of the 4th Penal Department of the High Appeals Court, who dismissed the turbaned defendant Hatice Hasdemir from the courtroom in the case involving Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Melih Gokcek. Ozkaya said, “No one can enter into a court room, which is a public place, in turban, which is a political symbol. My mother also wears headgear, wearing local clothes is totally a different thing.”
Following the practice of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who did not let anyone wearing turban attend the Presidential October 29 Reception, Appeals Court President Ozkaya, who is known for his closeness to Sezer, assumed a sharp attitude towards wearing turban in public places. Ozkaya extended his full support to Fadil Inan, the judge of the 4th Penal Department of the High Appeals Court, who dismissed the turbaned defendant Hatice Hasdemir from the courtroom and said, “There is nothing in violation of procedure and law in the decision of the judge.”
Ozkaya stressed that courtrooms were the leading examples of public places and that, “No matter whether he/she is an attorney, plaintiff, defendant, or observer, nobody can enter into courtroom in dresses that do not suit the prestige of the court or that are prohibited by law. For instance, entering into courtrooms in robes, swimsuits, turbans, or uniforms does not suit to the importance and prestige of courts. No female attorneys have ever been accepted into courtrooms. Being a defendant does not give anyone the right to enter into courtroom in an inappropriate dress.”
Ozkaya further said that turban was defined as “a political symbol” in the decisions of the Constitutional Court and Council of State and was prohibited in public places. Ozkaya stressed that even in some court decisions turban was mentioned as a symbol to “challenge” the principle of secularism and that the European Court for Human Rights had similar decisions.
Sharp Reaction From AKP
Regarding the decision of Judge Inan Education Minister Huseyin Celik said, “According to this logic, you should not accept turbaned patients to hospitals as well.”
Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy Hakki Koylu said that he had never witnessed such a practice before. Koylu said, “In all courts, Anatolian women go to trials in headgears.”
Mehmet Elkatmis from AKP, who is also the chairman of the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission, said, “Is not the right to defend oneself sacred? Cannot headgeared women go to post offices or hospitals? Can there be any more serious violation of human rights?”
